Boeing Announces AI-Driven, Blockchain-Based Flying Taxi Plans

Delivery and transport over short distances through the air continues to be the future of mobility. Boeing on Tuesday became the latest major corporation to announce plans for a fleet of flying taxis, with a few unique touches.

Boeing revealed in a company press release that it had teamed up with artificial intelligence company SparkCognition to build small, unmanned and airborne taxis. Boeing would, theoretically, provide the technical know-how to build the aircraft while SparkCognition would use artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to manage traffic.

The initiative is called Boeing NeXt. Boeing tweeted a short video to give a stylized idea of what the future might look like if NeXt is allowed to flourish.

Boeing’s press release went into further detail with some wildly ambitious ideas. The aircraft manufacturer promised that NeXt would include both hybrid vehicles and fully electronic ones for energy efficiency. NeXt will also experiment with hypersonic flight for passengers, as well as vertical take-off and landing concepts.

"Boeing has the experience and expertise to safely and efficiently shape this emerging world of travel and transport," Boeing chief technology officer Greg Hyslop said in a statement. "Through Boeing NeXt, we intend to build on our legacy of opening up new frontiers to move people and goods with proven technologies."

Getting from two points within a single city using aerial transport has typically been relegated to science fiction stories, but Boeing sees it as a real and lucrative market. SparkCognition founder Amir Husain called it a $3 trillion market in the making, per CNBC.

SparkCognition is a firm that specializes in AI development across the internet of things, finance and defense. The company boasts a large list of prominent partners in the tech world, including IBM and Google.

Even if none of these plans ever pan out in any meaningful way, multiple corporations besides Boeing have recently announced flying taxi initiatives. Uber wants to start giving aerial rides in Dallas and Los Angeles as soon as 2023 with a prototype it recently showed off, for example. Even jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has gotten in on the fun, having revealed its own concept on Monday.

There are also several logistical problems at play. Autonomous vehicles have run into several problems on the ground, so self-piloting urban transport aircraft might be difficult. Noise pollution, energy concerns and massive infrastructure changes will also need to be addressed before flying cars are a reality.